As time goes on, it seems like Donald Trump’s path to victory is narrowing with each passing day. While the legacy media and the Democratic Party were indeed presumptive in declaring that Biden was “President-elect,” it is now very likely that Biden will replace Trump come Inauguration Day. This has left the many conservatives who have come to this same conclusion asking the obvious question: “in a post-Trump world, what is next for conservatism?”
When it comes to the answer, there are two popular camps. The first consists of “Trump loyalists,” some of whom view the election as truly stolen, who wish to continue the “Make America Great Again” movement with Trump and his entourage remaining as the central driving force. This side cheers the idea of Donald Trump running again in 2024, or alternatively another member of the Trump team, such as Donald Trump Jr., taking the helm.
The second consists of those who see political failure as evidence that the Republican Party must “clear house.” While successful in 2016, they view Trump’s likely inability to prevent Joe Biden’s victory as an indication that the “Make America Great Again” movement has run its course, and it is time to either find the next step in conservatism’s evolution, or “return to normal.”
In my opinion, both of these are short-sighted in isolation, whether motivated by stubbornness, impatience, or even laziness. Instead, we should understand the elements of both arguments which are built on valid truths, and that an optimal outcome can be achieved by identifying and combining these truths.
Get back to basics on debt.
Without doubt, the Trump administration experienced many significant successes during the past four years, with one major policy being the cutting of taxes. However, one area of undeniable failure has been the Republican Party’s decision to jettison the necessary partner to the reduction of taxes — a reduction in spending. Long gone are the days of “fiscal responsibility,” with the budget deficit for the fiscal year of 2020 coming to $3.13 trillion, with government debt reaching about $27 trillion. Such monetary recklessness is placing us on the road to ruin, and conservatives can — and must — take back the mantle on this crucial subject before it’s too late.
Continue to tear down the Left’s “minority monopoly.”
For decades, the Democratic Party have presented themselves as the saviors of the downtrodden, a label they delight in assigning based on “minority status.” To them, they are the party of diversity and equality, while conservatives are the party of division and inequality. For proof, one doesn’t have to look much further than recent media coverage of Trump and his administration. However, despite a constant, calculated, and combined effort by the Democratic Party and the legacy media to make conservatism synonymous with bigotry, Trump was more popular with “ethnic minority voters” this past election than in 2016.
The reason for this is obvious to anyone who exists outside of the shallow world of identity politics. We are not characterized by our race, gender, or sexual orientation, but our character and our beliefs as individuals. This is the fundamental message of conservatism, and as long as there are people who are increasingly exhausted by the intersectionality of the Left, they will find a welcome home on the Right.
The House and the Senate matter too.
One common criticism of Donald Trump since his entrance onto the political scene is that he lacks discipline. Moreover, he seemingly lacks the ability to heal divisions on his own side, meaning that the broad Republican Party has fractured based on the existence of “loyalty” for Trump. This is, frankly, hugely damaging for both the party and the movement of conservatism. It is likely that Trump’s feud with the McCain family, for example, played a significant role in turning Arizona blue during both the presidential and Senate elections. With the Senate hanging in the balance, the inability or refusal to heal internal wounds could have long-lasting external impact. This is a lesson Republicans must learn, and a mistake they must never repeat.
The war is with the media.
Perhaps Trump’s greatest triumph as President is his determination to engage with the media. While Republicans of old were often passive when it came to the obvious — but more subtle — bias of the legacy media, Trump has dragged our news outlets kicking and screaming from under their false veil of objectivity. By fueling their outrage, Trump showed us what the media truly are — the propaganda wing of the Democratic Party.
In a post-Trump world, the legacy media will do two things. The first is to return to the Obama-era style of providing adoring coverage for Biden. The second will be to rewrite the history of their behavior during the past four years, allowing them to pivot back to “unity” and “truth,” with the definitions of both words happily provided by Biden and his administration.
If we keep one element of Trump’s first term, it must be his resilience in the face of the legacy media’s shameless and unforgivable bias. Whomever faces the likely Democratic incumbent in 2024 must take it upon themselves to understand that we are fighting a war on two fronts. The first is with the Democratic Party. The second is with their legacy media, and we can only win if we wholeheartedly fight on both fronts. Disengage from one, and all is lost.
Ian Haworth is host of The Ian Haworth Show and The Truth in 60 Seconds. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.